Distribution of epipelagic metazooplankton across the Mediterranean Sea during the summer BOUM cruise

Abstract

Abstract. The diversity and distribution of epipelagic metazooplankton across the Mediterranean Sea was studied along a 3000 km long transect from the eastern to the western basins during the BOUM cruise in summer 2008. Metazooplankton were sampled using both a 120 µm mesh size bongo net and Niskin bottles in the upper 200 m layer at 17 stations. Here we report on the stock, the composition and the structure of the metazooplankton community. The abundance was 4 to 8 times higher than in several previously published studies, whereas the biomass remained within the same order of magnitude. An eastward decrease in abundance was evident, although biomass was variable. Spatial (horizontal and vertical) distribution of metazooplankton abundance and biomass was strongly correlated to chlorophyll-a concentration. In addition, a clear association was observed between the vertical distribution of nauplii and small copepods and the depth of the deep chlorophyll maximum. The distinction between the communities of the eastern and western basins was clearly explained by the environmental factors. The specific distribution pattern of remarkable species was also described.

Mesozooplankton biomass and abundance in Cyprus coastal waters and comparison with the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean)

“…Oithona plumifera, O. setigera, and Farranula rostrata; Siokou-Frangou et al, 1997;Mazzocchi et al, 2014). Our samples from Cyprus were similarly dominated by calanoid and cyclopoid copepods, with the percentage contribution of each of these orders during September remarkably similar to that found in autumn in the 0 -100 m layer of offshore Levantine waters (i.e., 68% calanoid (Pasternak et al, 2005;Mazzocchi et al, 2014) and across the Levantine Sea (Nowaczyk et al, 2011). The cyclopoids Farranula rostrata, Oncaea media and O. mediterranea are mentioned as first dominant species among copepods in Lebanon coastal waters from December to March (Lakkis, 1990), while Oithona plumifera, O. nana and F. rostrata are among the ten most abundant species in the Egyptian coastal waters (Zakaria, 2006).…”

“…We have found that copepods by far dominate Cyprus mesozooplankton assemblages, as has previously been noted for mesozooplankton in the Levantine Sea (Mazzocchi et al, , 2014Nowaczyk et al, 2011). In spring and autumn, Levantine Sea epipelagic copepods were mainly comprised of small calanoids (e.g.…”

“…Mesozooplankton assemblages in the Levantine reflect the depauperate nature of the region, with abundance and biomass values among the lowest measured in the Mediterranean Sea (Siokou-Frangou et al, 2010;Nowaczyk et al, 2011;Mazzocchi et al, 2014). In the LevanIn the Levantine Sea, mesozooplankton abundance measured during several field campaigns has ranged from 93 -370 ind.…”

“…Studies of mesozooplankton in the Levantine Sea have been sporadic and focused exclusively on coastal communities along the mainland (El-Maghraby & Halim, 1965;Lakkis, 1990;Zakaria, 2006;Uysal & Shmeleva, 2012), or in epipelagic offshore waters (Mazzocchi et al, , 2014Siokou-Frangou et al, 1997;Pasternak et al, 2005;Nowaczyk et al, 2011). Mesozooplankton comMesozooplankton communities off the coast of Cyprus have never been comprehensively assessed.…”

Mesozooplankton structure and functioning during the onset of the Kerguelen phytoplankton bloom during the KEOPS2 survey

“…ZOOSCAN has recently been used to study the zooplankton community in various areas and has been validated by comparisons with traditional sampling methods (Grosjean et al, 2004;Schultes and Lopes, 2009;Gorsky et al, 2010). Our ZOOSCAN setup is similar to the one described by Gorsky et al (2010), and our sample processing protocol is fully presented in Nowaczyk et al (2011), following the recommendations of Gorsky et al (2010).…”